In Santa Clara County about 600 families are currently experiencing homelessness and another 600 new families enter homelessness for the first time every year. In 2021, Destination: Home joined with the County of Santa Clara, City of San Jose, Santa Clara County Housing Authority, Cisco, and several other Continuum of Care partners to launch HEADING HOME – a community-wide campaign to end family homelessness.
The goal of the HEADING HOME campaign is to achieve “functional zero” homelessness – meaning the number of housing placements for families is greater than the number of families entering homelessness. The county received nearly $600,000 from the Emergency Solutions Grants Program, which can be used to fund shelter operations, outreach, homelessness prevention or rapid rehousing. Over the past five years, the county has received $2.5 million in these grants and largely used the money to fund rapid rehousing programs, which give people time-limited rental subsidies.
For families currently experiencing homelessness: Contact the Countywide Shelter Hotline at (408) 385-2400 to be assessed and connected with available housing and shelter options for homeless families.
For families at-risk of becoming homeless: Contact the Homelessness Prevention System at (408) 926-8885 to learn about financial assistance and other resources for families at-risk of losing their housing.
Property owners who rent to a homeless or at-risk family participating in this campaign can qualify for several landlord incentives and benefits!